When I was growing up... I'm not going to say I listened to everything, but when it comes to vocals, I was really adamant about imitating all kinds of voices.

I would love to do an album of standards!

There's definitely a push and a pull to 'legitimize' electronic music live by playing the same way that a band would play.

I'm pushing back against the white, misogynistic, heterosexual establishment in the music industry. Like, literally, in all its forms.

There is this feeling among black artists that you have to be really careful. We're not inclined to talk about this stuff because, if we do, we put ourselves in a position where we're not marketable or where we can't win.

I just want to live in a world where I can tell a guy, 'This is the deal: I really want this. I really want you. But it's also not that deep.'

The goal is to blow the audience's mind.

My music sounds like one synergised thing, one message.

I think I'm taking risks and putting myself out there.

I've talked about that with friends, about what genre makes sense to choose for each record and the strategy around that... Sometimes it's more about the moment of time, and other times it's more about the sound of the song. Sometimes it's about what's going on in larger life, in politics.

We are - as artists, we are racialized through genre and called black - without being called black - through genre.

When I started making songs, some of them read as mixtape-y, and some of them read as album-y.

My first reaction to being pigeonholed or pushed into certain confines is to be like, 'No, I'm the opposite,' you know? Like, don't put me in a stereotypical black-girl category, because I'm not like that; I'm doing this thing over here.

You can never have enough reinforcements, resources for black women to thrive in the world. The topic has been addressed a million times before, but it will never end because what we're up against keeps morphing, and we have to figure out how to beat it.

I want to empower.

There are no black women geniuses that are being named in canons. I could name a bunch, but it's not part of common knowledge. It's not how the world is taught to think about black women.

I have something stupid, like, 12 credits, to graduate.

Before I collaborate, it's important that I have a conversation about what I care about before we make anything, so that it's very clear.

I would say there is a zone of R&B that hadn't been quite innovative.

It is very rare that I am just coming up with melodies off the top of my head. I usually am responding to something - it could be chains dragging on the floor - but I am usually responding to something.

It means so much to be able to share myself with the world.

My queer black women peers are the ones who make me not feel crazy. The way we act is so instinctive.

Growing up in an Ethiopian household allowed me to feel like I had an audience before I had an audience.

In Maryland, I didn't grow up around poor white people. Where I grew up, the white people were middle class or upper-middle class. It's interesting how screwed up it is in reality, because most people who receive assistance from the government are white, but not in my head or in my experience.

I know my ticket is vulnerability. Most people point to some emotional experience, some hardship, some high or low when they talk about my music... a time when they need to feel those feelings more.

I remember the day I first heard what Timbaland and Aaliyah did - that intersection of her pretty voice and his weird, resonant production. I remember where I was and what I was doing. It was a major situation. We're trying to continue that legacy.

I'm coming from the zone of Faith Evans, but with weird production.

I don't care about the underground, even if that's where I'm currently residing sonically.

I want to soundtrack people's layered feelings.

I'm definitely seeking to challenge tropes.

Sounding like I have agency in a song is important to me. I want to feel empowered by the music.

It's gratifying to hear something familiar and challenging at the same time.

I'd like to change what people expect. I want to evoke something that's not nameable, for people to go, 'Huh?'

Small things make me smile.

It's depression. You can't put it into words. You get stuck and time passes by. I'm stood there on the edge of a cliff, can't go back and can't go forward. Days go by. I'm still in the same place. Everyone else's life goes on, but you're stuck. You try and try and try and I don't know how, but you came out of it eventually.

Looking out the window and seeing the MGM and Floyd Mayweather takes me back to when I was a kid. Those were the places you'd hear about, the ones that staged big fights and top fighters. You always want to one day fight there yourself.

I saw Bob Arum out in America, I saw him walking through the lobby in the MGM Grand. I basically went over and said: 'You're running out of opponents for Crawford and I'm the guy to beat him. I'm here.' I saw Terence Crawford, he said he was ready for it, so everybody is on the same page. Everyone wants to make the fight.

I've got all the attributes. I've got the sharpness. I've got everything you need to be a top fighter.

If I can't beat DeLuca, how can I say I want to fight the elite of the sport, rematch Errol Spence or fight Terence Crawford? There's no point and I don't have the right to call for world titles. No - I have to win.

I've gone from the top of the world to the bottom of the ocean.

I'm actually a mummy's boy.

This has been a dream of mine since I was a kid... I'm passionate about being a world champion, believe me.

Two-time world champion - that's my goal.

I know it's near the end and when it's over I want to be able to say to myself - not anyone else - that I've given it everything. At least in the last part of my career.

If someone said to me you can get five million quid, a world title, fight at Wembley with a fight that every fan wants to see, it's a no-brainer for me.

Amir Khan is a very good fighter, but he has been knocked out a few times when he has stepped up.

I have realised I have been cheating myself and it is me who pays for it. So I am going to give myself the best opportunity to give my all. It's me who walks in my shoes.

I'd like a big fight in America, it would cap off my career in a great way.

I can't really explain how high the feeling was winning that world title in California with my family watching me.

I'm not usually a drinker.